This invention relates to a weapon which includes a large-caliber barrel, a breech ring affixed to the barrel at the breech end thereof and at least one catching and ejecting device for immobilizing and extracting rimless cartridge cases.
A weapon of the above-outlined type is disclosed, for example, in German Patent No. 41 33 618 to which corresponds U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,724. The weapon described therein has two oppositely located catching and ejecting devices each having an ejector which is linearly displaceable parallel to the barrel axis and which has an extractor claw. The two ejectors have openings into which extend pivotal ejector levers so that upon pivoting the ejector lever a linear displacement of the ejector results. Further, the weapon barrel has on its end oriented towards the breech ring, two locking pockets into which the extractor claws, extending into the ejector groove of the cartridge case, are pressed after completion of the cartridge feed to prevent the cartridge bottom from being pushed into the propellant chamber of the barrel.
It is, among others, a disadvantage of the above-outlined conventional weapon that during the cartridge feed the extractor claws glide on the cartridge case until they fall into the extractor groove of the cartridge case. Such an occurrence may damage the cartridge case particularly if it is made of a thin, combustible material.